VANCOUVER, BC, June 2, 2020
/CNW/ - Hannan Metals Limited ("Hannan" or the "Company") (TSXV:
HAN) (OTCPK: HANNF) provides an update on its exploration and
social programs at the 100% owned copper-silver San Martin Project
in Peru. San Martin is a newly discovered, basin-scale
high-grade copper-silver project that extends for 120 kilometres
along the foreland region of the eastern Andes Mountains in
Peru (Figure 1).
As reported 28 May 2020,
Peru remains on a state of
emergency until the end of June to contain the COVID-19
outbreak. From December 2019
through to mid-March 2020, Hannan
completed an active field work program at its San Martin project in
north eastern Peru. Numerous new
copper and silver discoveries were made over a 20-kilometre trend
within the 60 kilometre long Sacanche claim area (Figure 1).
The first set of geochemical assays from some of these areas are
reported here.
Highlights:
- A new 2-kilometre-long zone of high-grade copper-silver
mineralization has been defined by mapping at the Nueva Esperanza
prospect within the Sacanche claim:
-
- Mineralization was located within three E-W creeks during
follow up of previously reported outcrop and boulder samples that
assayed 0.6m @ 8.7% Cu and 59 g/t Ag
and 30% Cu and 595 g/t Ag respectively (fig 2 and 4);
- Best new results from boulders in adjacent creeks include
10.0% Cu and 70 g/t Ag and 1.5% Cu and 31 g/t Ag
(Figure 2). A total of 25 boulders have been sampled at Nueva
Esperanza, which average 1.9% Cu and 31 g/t Ag, and range from 0.0%
Cu to 30.1% Cu and 0.04 g/t Ag to 595 g/t Ag. A total of 19 outcrop
samples have been taken at Nueva Esperanza, which average 0.54% Cu
and 4 g/t Ag, and range from 0.0% Cu to 8.7% Cu and 0.04 g/t Ag to
59 g/t Ag.
- The Nueva Esperanza zone remains open to the north, south and
down dip and regional results suggest an inferred strike of the
mineralized position is greater than 10 kilometres (Figure 3 and
5)
- Nueva Esperanza lies within a regional trend of previously
reported outcrop samples from the Sacanche claim. Outcrop sampling
5 kilometres north of Nueva Esperanza returned high grade results
including 2 metres @ 5.9% Cu and 66 g/t Ag and sampling 16
kilometres south of Nueva Esperanza returned 3 metres @ 2.5% Cu and
22 g/t Ag (Figure 1).
Michael Hudson, Hannan's CEO,
states, "While our exploration program delivers excellent
discovery successes with copper and silver mineralization at all
scales, the critical path for Hannan at San Martin has always been
social permitting. We have a quarter of a century of
operating experience in Peru, our
directors have deep in-country experience, and we appreciate the
great diversity of topography, climate, social groups and operating
requirements across the country.
Through professional and respectful social programs, the
Company has gained field access during our first full exploration
season at San Martin, and we are thankful for the support and
working relationships that we have developed with all stakeholders.
We look forward to releasing further results from this year's field
programs and having our field teams return to the project area when
it is safe and permitted to do so."
Dr. Quinton Hennigh, an
internationally-renowned economic geologist, with over 25 years of
exploration experience and expertise with major gold mining
companies such as Homestake Mining Company, Newcrest Mining
Limited, and Newmont Mining Corporation is a geological adviser to
Hannan and visited the project in late February 2020.
Dr. Hennigh states, "In late February prior to COVID-19
travel restrictions, I visited Hannan's San Martin Project. At the
time, exploration crews were pushing their way into new areas
where, day after day, they would return back from the field with
new samples from new outcrops and boulders collected from along the
prospective trend along which the redox boundary within the
Sarayaquillo Formation outcrops. Assays from these samples
demonstrate compelling evidence Hannan is likely dealing with a
stratigraphically-controlled high-grade Cu-Ag system that is quite
extensive. Combining this evidence with that from other explorers
in this region who are seeing similar style mineralization
extending northward across the border into Ecuador, it is starting to appear as though we
are dealing with a basin wide mineralizing event."
The mineralization found at Nueva Esperanza is hosted by the
Sarayaquillo Formation where copper and silver are associated with
widespread reduced facies at the top of a red bed sequence, where
petrographic studies show copper sulphides replace both pyrite and
organic material. Anomalous values of lead and cobalt discovered
have been found in calcareous sandstone outcrop of the Cushabatay
Formation with best results are 0.17% lead and 316 ppm cobalt
(Figure 2 and 4). Channel samples are considered representative of
the in-situ mineralization samples and sample widths quoted
approximate the true width of mineralization, while grab (boulder)
samples are selective by nature and are unlikely to represent
average grades on the property.
Geological Discussion
The San Martin project is an early stage exploration project.
Previous mineral exploration in the area is limited. Mobil first
identified lead-zinc mineralization in the southern area in the
early 1990s. RTZ conducted reconnaissance sampling in the
southern and northern areas for one year in the late 1990's and
drilled 3 diamond drillholes near the Mobil discovery in the
transitional lead-zinc parts of the system in the south. A private
Canadian company completed soil sampling and some geophysics during
a one year period during 2009 in the southern project area. These
data are not available to Hannan.
Hannan's in-depth regional geological understanding has been
derived from the substantial data gathered during petroleum
exploration activities undertaken in the Huallaga Basin since 1989.
This data, which recently has been made publicly available,
includes >2,000 kilometres of 2D seismic, 618 kilometres of
geological traverses, 1,600 gravity stations, 13,000 kilometres of
aeromagnetic surveys and >2,000 rock samples for geochemical and
petrological studies. This information has provided Hannan a
tremendous amount of data to guide exploration and support
geological models.
According to the USGS the sediment-hosted copper
mineralization style is subdivided into three sub-classes with
different geologic features: 1. The reduced-facies class that
includes deposits found in widespread reduced sedimentary rocks; 2.
The red bed class that includes deposits in local areas of reduced
rocks within red bed sequences; and 3. The Revett class based on
deposits restricted to the Proterozoic Revett Formation in
Montana and Idaho in the USA.
The San Martin project shares many characteristics with the
reduced facies class that includes the Zechstein basin of
Poland which hosts the vast
Kupferschiefer copper-silver deposits. Both the Kupferschiefer and
San Martin areas coincide with major crustal re-arrangement related
to the break-up of Pangea and were located at favorable
paleolatitudes for the formation of thick evaporitic strata. The
San Martin Project lacks age dating of mineralization, but the
geological record suggests a mineralization age that is late
Jurassic to late Cretaceous.
On a basin scale, the San Martin Project exhibits district wide
mineralization hosted in reduced sedimentary rocks covering at
least 120 kilometres of strike and 50 kilometres of width.
Mineralization is hosted by several different reduced lithologies
close to a major basial redox boundary that coincides with the
transition from the Jurassic to the Cretaceous period. The redox
boundary is marked by an unconformity between Jurassic red beds and
overlying grey to white reduced Cretaceous sandstones. The upper
part of the red beds contain a regionally extensive sequence of
finely laminated grey sandstones with bituminous material and
pyrite, that ranges in thickness between 0.5 to 5 metres. The
contact between the red beds and grey sandstone is also reduced and
contains abundant disseminated to finely laminated pyrite (2-30%)
over significant distances (kilometers) and widths (tens of
meters).
At San Martin, mineralization is observed in reduced grey
laminated rocks of the Sarayaquillo Formation and grey bituminous
and pyritic sandstones, limestones and shales of Grupo Oriente (Cushabatay and Esperanza
Formations). Several of these hosts are only known from boulders
found over broad areas and therefore the geological data is
preliminary in nature. However, it suggests that mineralization,
like in the Kupferschiefer, is both stratabound and transgressive
and different lithologies proximal to the major redox boundary are
mineralized.
Mineralization also appears to be more favorably developed
proximal to salt domes which are commonly intruded parallel to the
axis of Jurassic-aged extensional basin faults. The salt domes have
produced steep reverse faults, anticlines and stratigraphic
pinch-out of mineralized units which in turn has been overprinted
by Miocene age Andean orogenic deformation.
Sedimentary-hosted stratiform copper-silver deposits are among
the two most important copper sources in the world, the other being
copper porphyries. They are also a major producer of silver.
According to the World Silver Survey 2020 KGHM Polska Miedz's
("KGHM") three copper-silver sediment-hosted mines in Poland are the leading silver producer in the
world with 40.2Moz produced in 2019. This is almost twice the
production of the second largest producing mine. The Polish mines
are also the sixth largest global copper miner and in 2018, KGHM
produced 30.3 Mt of ore at a grade of 1.49% Cu and 48.6 g/t
Ag from a mineralized zone that averages 0.4 to 5.5 metres
thickness.
Social Licensing
Hannan have been conducting a professional and
respectful social program after its
first petitorios mineros (claims) were granted in late
2019. Together with social teams, four geologists
and support staff were working from January through to
mid-March 2020 through the area when the COVID-19
lockdown took place. The Company has the support of
various local stakeholders and overall, the
Company has been well received by multiple
levels of society in which we are working. Social work
continues with local representatives working to educate and
discuss the Company's ongoing plans with local
stakeholders.
The project consists of a total of 87 mining
concessions (mineros petitorios), 40 concessions
which have been granted. None of the granted areas
are located next to or inside protected nature
reserve zones. Only three application areas (out of
87 concessions in total) are partially overlapped by protection
areas, which will likely be excised or observed on granting.
Within all Hannan's areas only a small percentage (4.7%)
fall within indigenous areas, which are all located in
the south of the Tabalosos area (Figure 6). Most of the
prospective rock sequences in the Huallaga Basin have now been
staked by Hannan and third-party companies (Figure 6).
About Hannan Metals Limited
(TSX.V:HAN) (OTCPK: HANNF)
Hannan Metals Limited is a natural resources and
exploration company developing sustainable and ethical resources of
metal needed to meet the transition to a low carbon economy. Over
the last decade, the team behind Hannan has forged a long and
successful record of discovering, financing and advancing mineral
projects in Europe and
Peru.
Mr. Michael Hudson FAusIMM, Hannan's Chairman and CEO, a
Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has
reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this
news release.
On behalf of the Board,
"Michael Hudson"
Michael Hudson, Chairman &
CEO
Forward Looking Statements
Certain information set forth in this news release contains
"forward-looking statements", and "forward- looking information"
under applicable securities laws. Except for statements of
historical fact, certain information contained herein constitutes
forward-looking statements, which include the Company's
expectations regarding future performance based on current results,
expected cash costs based on the Company's current internal
expectations, estimates, projections, assumptions and beliefs,
which may prove to be incorrect. These statements are not
guarantees of future performance and undue reliance should not be
placed on them. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve
known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause the
Company's actual performance and financial results in future
periods to differ materially from any projects of future
performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statement. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not
limited to: The Company's expectations regarding timing to complete
field work and outcome of results, the granting of the claim
applications in Peru, the
potential impact of epidemics, pandemics or other public health
crises, including the current outbreak of the novel coronavirus
known as COVID-19 on the Company's business, community relations,
liabilities inherent in mine development and production, geological
risks, the financial markets generally, and the ability of the
Company to raise additional capital to fund future operations.
There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will
prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could
differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The
Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking
statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions
should change except as required by applicable securities laws. The
reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this news.
SOURCE Hannan Metals Ltd.